Newsline: News You Can Use

ANBAR and CHEST reach agreement

ANBAR and CHEST have reached agreement on the provision of Anbar Management Intelligence, Computer Abstracts and International Civil Engineering Abstracts to eligible institutions for a fixed five-year period starting on 1st January 1999. Institutions can decide to join at any time during the term of the agreement and will be bound until the end of the agreement period.

If you would like to know more about Anbar Management Intelligence, Computer Abstracts, International Civil Engineering Abstracts or CHEST, please contact:
Lynn Coulton
Anbar Electronic Intelligence
60-62 Toller Lane, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD8 9BY
Email: anbar@anbar.co.uk
URL: http://www.anbar.co.uk/anbar.htm

For CHEST, contact:
Emma Sudds
CHEST
University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY
Tel: 01225 826982
Fax: 01225 826177
Email: Emma.Sudds@chest.ac.uk

AHDS announce the ArchSearch Catalogue

AHDS have announced a major new tool - the ArchSearch Catalogue developed by the Archaeology Data Service. This catalogue is accessible over the internet at: http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/ and allows fast searching of records such as the National Excavation Index for England (contributed by RCHME); the Fife, Shetland, and Strathclyde sections of the National Monuments Record of Scotland (contributed by RCAHMS); and the Microfilm Index for England (contributed by RCHME). The catalogue is also a gateway providing access to special collections such as the Society of Antiquaries of London library catalogue and to digital gateways serving communities interested in history, performing arts, text studies, and visual arts, via the Arts and Humanities Data Service catalogue.

AHDS is interested in receiving feedback from users of the new service, who can email any comments or suggestions, to info@ads.ahds.ac.uk

BOBCAS: British Official Publications Current Awareness Service

BOPCAS, the internationally acclaimed Web based British Official Publications Current Awareness Service enters the next phase of development by launching a new subscription service on 1 November 1998. The service, a joint venture between Information Management International and The University of Southampton, will continue to use the well established BOPCAS format with many new enhancements to ensure the information is current and easy to access.

BOPCAS is a value-added, searchable, browsable and weekly updated current a wareness service giving details of British Official Publications in a World Wide Web database with backfiles to 1995. A series of e-mail alerting services give up-to-date information on a choice of specific policy areas saving valuable searching time and reducing information overload.

While access to the bibliographic database is free, two subscription levels are available giving access to the value-added services. Silver subscription allows far more flexibility with keyword searching, abstracts of full text documents with hypertext links, browsing by publication date, subject, corporate author or publication type and any two of the e-mail alerting services.

In addition to these, Gold subscription gives you up to 14 e-mail alerting services, the comprehensive Weekly Update and an Intranet/Network Licence allowing you to download data for internal distribution.

BOPCAS is available at http://www.soton.ac.uk/~bopcas/ For more information contact:
Alan Weston
Development Manager
Aslib
Tel: 0171 903 0000
Email: bopcas@aslib.co.uk

Integrate, Co-operate and Innovate: eLib 3

A two-day non-residential conference, entitled Integrate, Co-operate and Innovate: eLib 3, co-ordinated by eLib’s Hylife Project, will be held at the Open University Conference Conference, 344-354 Gray’s Inn Road, London, on 15 and 16 December 1998.The conference, aimed at those involved in the delivery and/or management of library and information Services in a hybrid environment, and not restricted to the Higher Education sector, will provide an opportunity to identify and explore the implications and impacts of Hybrid Library, CLUMPS and Preservation developments in their broader context.

Details and booking forms are available from Maureen Dickson, who is Research Administrator, the Department of Information and Library Management at the University of Northumbria.
http://eon.unn.ac.uk/conferences/
Email: maureen.dickson@unn.ac.uk
Tel: 0191 227 3222 - fax 0191 227 3671

LASER: The Development and Networking Agency

LASER welcomes the Library and Information Commission’s Report ‘Building the New Library Network’. The three LIC Implementation Groups on the network infrastructure, the creation of content and training have succeeded in meeting the governments requirement of the LIC to produce firm proposals to translate the vision of the ‘New Library the Peoples Network: report’ into reality.

Implementing the Network

The proposals for New Library recommend a regional approach to the roll-out of the network infrastructure. LASER has already committed itself to a regional strategy in support of this. We will work with member authorities in consortia arrangements and partnerships to help build the network infrastructure. We support the pragmatic approach to the construction of the network, which includes a migration strategy to a dedicated broadband network when this is required. The proposal for enabling local authorities to purchase kitemarked managed services around a core user specification which can vary according to local need is also welcomed.

Creating Content

The proposals put forward for defining, creating and managing the resources available on the Network represent a challenging opportunity for the public library community.

LASER is pleased that the proposals also support the funding of finding aids. Experience will show that more resources will be necessary in this area to develop networked resource sharing services, directory systems which supports resource, collection and service description, navigation of network services, authorisation and authentication.

We would hope that the New Opportunity Fund (NOF) and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) would consult widely in this area.

Training

Training and re-skilling public librarians to handle information and communication technology, access databases and online information and to take on new roles as guides and instructors provides an on-going challenge and training requirement. The proposals outlined in this report begin that process.

The recommendations are right to recognise the special training needs of librarians and we applaud the proposal which will enable local authorities to specify their individual needs for advanced training of librarians. LASER strongly supports the need for the benchmark approach to training needs analysis and the accreditation of training schemes.

LASER will support cross authority consortia at regional level and within the work of the EARL as the co-ordinating partner of the Consortium.

‘Building the New Library’ Report stresses the revolutionary nature of the programme of action proposed. LASER supports the exhortation in the Report to approach these recommendations with "imagination and resolution"

References

1. Building the New Library Network http://www.lic.gov.uk/publications/building.html

2. New Library: The People’s Network http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/lic/newlibrary

3. The Government’s National Grid for Learning Challenge http://www.dfee.gov.uk/grid/challenge/index.htm

For further information on LASER, contact Frances Hendrix, Director:
Email:frances@viscount.org.uk
Tel: 0171 702 2020 - fax 0171 702 2019